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I was reminded of this blog which I wrote back in 2015 in regards to being courteous to one another as drivers. I have just experienced another incident last week and I decided to post the following blog again to remind us that our actions affect other people. I happened to be sound asleep around 4:00 am one morning which is when my schedule allows for my rest. Some drivers sleep during the day which makes it important anytime day or night when we are operating at Travel Centers or other parking areas where drivers are trying to get some sleep. I was awakened by a truck and trailer backing into the space next to me. I woke to hear the backup alarm (which I understand a driver has no control) and that would have been fine as it’s a normal sound to hear in a truck stop. Next, I hear loud music coming from the truck. His music was so loud that anyone could hear it outside the cab. I must admit he had quite a sound system. As the driver stepped out from the door, the music was even louder. Needless to say, I was fully awake at that point and couldn’t go back to sleep. Below, is the blog that I’m referring to and wanted to share it once again for just this reason.
I have several examples of events which have happened over the last month that have awakened me from sleeping while in my truck. There was a guy who decided to do a thorough and complete pre trip in between the rows of trucks in which drivers were asleep in their trucks. I applauded the thoroughness in which the driver was performing this pre trip inspection. I listened as this driver pumped the brakes down to test the brake shut off valves on the dash. What was not appreciated was all the noise that this required as I was then awake after being in a sound sleep. What would have been appreciated was if this driver had pulled his truck at a location within the facility as to not disturb others.
The next incident I experienced was with a driver who evidentially had one flat tire on a dual wheel assembly. Once again, I was in a deep sleep as the road service man began to remove the lug nuts from this driver’s wheel. This created lots of noise not any more than 7 feet away from my ears. Needless to say… I again was awakened by all the unexpected noise.
The final unpleasant memory of which there are many and these are just a sample goes like this…. I’m asleep at a truck stop fairly close to the interstate and it’s a beautiful mid 60 degree evening, quiet and peaceful for one’s daily rest. This particular evening I’m in a truck with no APU, the temperature is just right and therefore, I have the sleeper windows open for air circulation. This was the perfect evening for meaningful restful sleep. After I’m well into a good sleep, the peacefulness soon was gone as a driver decided to demonstrate his driving skill by downshifting through each and every one of his gears at high RPM with straight stacks. While I must admit, he was quite skilled and I couldn’t detect any missed gears, I wanted to come unglued as once again I awoke from this unpleasant event. What is important from this last incident is the fact that it was totally unnecessary as the truck was on flat ground and had no need to utilize the Jake Brakes to that extent.
These incidents have made me think of my own actions within our parking/sleeping areas. (Travel centers, rest areas and any other parking area.) At the current time, I’ve been using a rental truck as my own truck has been at the test track. The rental truck has a very loud and annoying back up alarm and therefore, I try to pull into a parking area or coast backwards without the truck being in the reverse gear as to try to not awaken anyone. When I get up in the morning, if the trucks surrounding me have their curtains pulled and are still sleeping, I will pull the truck out of the parking spot to an area where no one is sleeping to conduct my pre trip inspection.
I don’t want to blame any drivers personally for their actions but rather I want to bring awareness to our fellow drivers that we each take one another into consideration when we are parked and resting. We all require good rest in order to be our best. Let’s be courteous and think of others.